LSU’s Donavaughn Campbell was arrested on Georgia Tech’s campus over the open date.

Ed Orgeron suffered his first major discipline situation this week with the reports that freshman offensive lineman Donavaughn Campbell was arrested on two counts of misdemeanor battery over the weekend on Georgia Tech’s campus.

Campbell’s suspension was announced shortly after the reports surfaced today.

According to the report, the event unfolded at the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity House at Georgia Tech at 12:21 a.m. CT Sunday. Two victims, both GT students, told police that they were punched in the face and head by two men. Campbell was arrested along with Georgia Tech safety Jalen Johnson, the report said. Johnson was booked with one count of simple battery.

Players typically are given a few days off on open weekends, and Campbell has family at Georgia Tech, which one assumes he was visiting. Campbell, a four-star recruit from Ponchatoula, had impressed in training camp and seen some limited playing time as a reserve before suffering an ankle injury.

Quarterback Davis Webb is keeping Cal’s Bear Raid buzzing.

Cal did its best Oregon impression this off season, and swept up a graduate transfer QB in Davis Webb, from Texas Tech. He was originally committed to Colorado before changing his pledge to the Bears, who were eager to replace the production of #1 overall pick Jared Goff, and keep the Bear Raid offense humming along. Webb has certainly fit the bill of “plug-and-play” this season, and has seamlessly kept the offensive wheels turning.

As spectacular as Webb has been this season (more on that below), the rushing attack has given him a lot of help. Cal’s entire motivation on offense is to throw the ball, and they’re identity is a passing team. However, they rush for a solid 170 yards per game and 4.9 yards per rush. Straight up, those numbers are nothing too impressive, except when you consider than Cal runs the ball more than only 3 teams in the entire country, and two of them are Texas Tech and Washington State. Cal rushes less than 40% of their plays, but manages to get production when they do.

Let’s examine the offense closer and see how it performs through the air and on the ground (taking a different approach this week to offense previews…)

The Basics

Cal’s offensive coordinator is Jake Spavital, who was previously at Texas A&M. In short, he knows how to run a potent offense. In his brief coaching career, he’s worked under Gus Malzahn, Kevin Sumlin, Dana Holgorsen, and Kliff Kingsbury – some of the brightest offensive minds in college football, and each running their variation of a pass first spread, or “air raid” offense. Here is a great breakdown and guide to the offense that head coach Sonny Dykes brought over from Louisiana Tech.

These types of offenses usually require a high volume of either throwing or passing. As in, to achieve the scoring and yardage outputs, you need a lot of inputs, or plays. This is easily achieved with an uptempo offense that wastes no time getting a play off. Cal does this exceptionally well, running an average of 88.8 plays per game. In their last 3 games, that figure jumps to an astonishing 97 plays per game. At home, where they’ve generally played their best, they slow things down a bit, “only” running 84 plays a game. In all this, they are still quite efficient, ranking 31st in overall offensive efficiency at Football Outsiders.

Through the Air

QB Davis Webb: 2,914 yards, 29 TDs, 8 INTs, 62% completion, 7.02 yards/attempt.

WR Chad Hansen: 59 receptions, 770 yards, 8 TDs.

WR Demetris Robertson: 35 receptions, 469 yards, 6 TDs.

WR Melquise Stovall: 39 receptions, 396, 3 TDs.

WR Vic Wharton III: 24 receptions, 267 yards, 1 TD.

In short, Davis Webb has been one of the best QBs in the conference, if not the entire nation. He’s putting up the gaudy statistics a talented, experienced QB in an air raid system should put up, and is playing his way into being another highly drafted Cal QB. He’s directing an offense that throws for 365 yards a game, and also ranks in the top 50 in passing efficiency. In his last 4 games, he’s been very impressive, throwing for 11 TDs and only 3 INTs, while completing over 60% of his passes. He absolutely tore Oregon apart to the tune of 5 TDs and 325 yards, while not having a throw be complete for more than 17 yards. That’s called “dink and dunk” my friends, and Cal is very good at it. Webb is exceptional at dropping back, and picking apart defenses with the quick passing game.

When he drops back, he’s also been protected quite well, only getting sacked 14 times all season. That 1.75 sack per game average is exactly level with UW. This speaks to good offensive line play, made even more impressive since Cal passes so much, there’s more opportunity than usual for the defense to pin its ears back and get into the backfield.

Cal is a dangerous Red Zone team, as well. They score on nearly 90% of possessions inside the 20 yard line, and on 36 attempts have scored 21 touchdowns. More than half of those have been passing. Deep into opponent’s territory, they also love to use misdirection play action passing, like they did so well against Oregon.

The wide receivers are playmakers, as well. Chad Hansen is the headliner, as he leads the team in yards, TDs, and receptions. He was one of the hottest receivers in the country before injuring his hand a few weeks ago and has been out. He is expected back this Saturday against the Huskies. Even if you look at his stats through 6 games as if they were for 9 games, it’s still really impressive what he’s done with a brand new QB. Most of the rest of their WR production is coming from freshmen duo Melquise Stovall and Demetris Robertson, who have been super in their first years in the Pac-12. Robertson is the bigger body and deep threat, while Stovall is more a shifty slot guy.

It’s an explosive and deep group overall: Hansen has a 49 yard TD, Robertson a 59 yard TD, and Jordan Veasy and Bug Rivera have one each for 33 yards.

On the Ground

Khalfani Muhammad: 93 rushes, 613 yards, 2 TDs.

Tre Watson: 90 rushes, 484 yards, 2 TDs.

As you probably know by now, Cal likes to make their name with the air attack. However, their run game is nothing to scoff at. As I noted previously, they don’t rush the ball much, but have two solid running backs that compliment the pass game. Muhammad has only 2 TDs on the year, but averages over 6 yards a rush, while Watson is the receiving threat out of the backfield. Watson also has only 2 scores on the ground, but has 3 receiving TDs, including a 74 yard TD grab. The OL shines here too, as it does in pass protection, not letting free runners into the backfield very often. Cal ranks top-40 in tackles for loss allowed, with less than 6 per game.

They can score on the ground in the red zone, too. While they have 12 red zone passing TDs, they also have 9 rushing TDs, displaying good balance on short fields.

Vic Enwere was the other big time runner in this group (who had a great game against the Huskies last year) but was lost for the season due to injury.

Final Thoughts

There isn’t a lot that’s unimpressive about this offense, but if there’s one area of potential weakness, it’s wasted drives. When examining the percentage of drives that result in a touchdown or at least one first down, the Bears rank 54th nationally. For an offense that runs this many plays, that’s understandable. But facing a Washington defense that makes you earn every single yard (fancy way of saying the Husky D has exceptional yards per play numbers), they could struggle here without getting a few big plays.

It’s also worth noting, they have struggled against top defenses. Consider against Arizona State, Oregon State, and Oregon, they have put up 46 points per game. On the other hand, against Utah and USC, they’ve only mustered 26 points per game. Washington certainly is in the Utah/USC caliber of defense, so might be able to find success, though the health of Joe Mathis as a pass rusher is a key concern. Him being back and healthy will really make the defense much more effective.

Chad Hansen potentially being back is scary. Stovall and Robertson are fantastic players, but I’ll take the Washington secondary against 2 freshmen. Throw the 6’2” Hansen into the mix, and it makes things much trickier. I think Cal will have some success on offense, but ultimately Washington’s defense will have the upper hand.

Make it three of a kind for the Utes, as they are ranked No. 16 in the first College Football Playoff Poll of 2016. The Utes are also ranked 16 in both the AP and Coaches Poll. The Utes are one of a very small number of teams, and the only Pac-12 team, to be ranked in all of the College Football Playoff Polls, since the poll started.

Utah is one of four Pac-12 teams ranked, with Washington at No. 5 (WTF, Texas A&M!?!?), Colorado at No. 15, just ahead of the Utes, and Wazzu at No. 25. I think the SEC bias is real, and shows in this poll, BUT, the good news is I think it’ll sort itself out come the final selections in December.

What does this mean for the Utes? Well, it means they have an outside chance of sneaking into that final four. The No. 16 slot has proven to be a good one in the past, as that’s where Ohio State debuted two years ago, and Oklahoma debuted at 15 last year. If Utah wins out, and wins the Pac-12 Championship, they will be in the conversation as a Power 5 champion. They need Washington to keep winning and to be in that top four area when they would meet again in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Of course, some help would need to be had with some teams losing too, but I’m not sure we would see two teams from the same league get in. Previous committees have viewed the conference title games as play-in games, essentially, and it’ll be interesting to see if this current committee does the same.

What are your initial thoughts on the first CFP poll?

The committee got the #4 team right in their first rankings of the season.

Well, I should have seen that coming.

Texas A&M, sitting at 7-1, was slotted above 8-0 Washington in the College Football Playoff’s first rankings of the season, which came out this evening. Here’s the full Top 25 (click here to see who I projected in the New Years’ Six and semifinals):

Here are my thoughts:

Texas A&M over Washington in 4th was absolutely the right call.

Simply put, the Aggies play a much tougher schedule than the Huskies (7th in the country as opposed to Washington’s 38th-ranked ledger). A&M’s one loss shouldn’t have inflicted much damage at all since it came against Alabama. A resume that includes wins against UCLA and Tennessee (despite looking weaker as time goes on) stands up better than Washington’s.

Ohio State running the table should get them in the semifinals.

The Buckeyes’ remaining schedule consists of #10 Nebraska, at Maryland, at Michigan State, and home against #2 Michigan for The Game. If things hold the way they do, and a one-loss Ohio State team ends up toppling a undefeated Wolverines team in the final week of the regular season en route to a conference title, I’m led to believe that the committee would favor the Buckeyes, even with a single loss, over Washington, and maybe even over Texas A&M (whose remaining schedule consists of two sub.-500 teams, a .500 team, and #13 LSU). As it looks right now, things favor the Buckeyes to sneak in, while I’d be a little afraid if I were an A&M or Huskies fan. Again, that’s if things hold, which is asking a lot.

Like last year, the Gamecocks have a few chances to play spoiler down the stretch.

Of course, Clemson is #2, but Florida is #11, and has a chance to make a move of their own with #13 LSU and #23 Florida State making up their final two games. The Gators’ best hope right now is holding off Auburn and getting into the Sugar Bowl as the SEC’s top non-CFP team, but even if they end up beating Arkansas in Fayetteville, a loss to the man that once led their program for four seasons would be the ultimate stroke of irony and would knock them to a holiday bowl. That says nothing of Clemson, who face Syracuse, Pitt and Wake Forest before the big game after Thanksgiving. Considering how close last year’s edition turned out (even against the worst Gamecocks team in sixteen years) and the near losses Clemson’s endured, I wouldn’t call this year’s contest a sure bet for the Tigers.

And yes, that means nothing right now.

The College Football Playoff Committee issued its first top 25 tonight, with the Tigers checking in at No. 13 in advance of this weekend’s huge showdown with No. 1 Alabama.

The rest of the top 25, of course, as follows.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0)
2. Clemson Tigers (8-0)
3. Michigan (8-0)
4. Texas A&M (7-1)
5. Washington Huskies (8-0)
6. Ohio State Buckeyes (7-1)
7. Louisville Cardinals (7-1)
8. Wisconsin Badgers (6-2)
9. Auburn Tigers (6-2)
10. Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-1)
11. Florida Gators (6-1)
12. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-2)
13. LSU Tigers (5-2)
14. Oklahoma Sooners (6-2)
15. Colorado Buffaloes (6-2)
16. Utah Utes (7-2)
17. Baylor Bears (6-1)
18. Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-2)
19. Virginia Tech Hokies (6-2)
20. West Virginia Mountaineers (6-1)
21. North Carolina Tar Heels (6-2)
22. Florida State Seminoles (5-3)
23. Western Michigan (8-0)
24. Boise State Broncos (7-1)
25. Washington State Cougars (6-2)

Obviously, A&M in the top 25 is going to cause some WARBARGHL, but who cares, its just the first week and this will all change.

As for the Tigers, just win BeBe.

1-loss Texas A&M is 4th ahead of the undefeated Huskies

The first College Football Playoff Committee rankings of 2016 have been released and two SEC teams found their way into the top 4. Number one of course was Alabama, Clemson was second and Michigan comes in at 3rd. Most thought the undefeated Washington Huskies would round out the inaugural top 4 but to the surprise of many Texas A&M jumped to the 4 slot. It would seem that the Committee is either very high on the SEC west, very low on the Pac-12 generally or some combination of the two.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. The Playoff committee has in the past shown a preference for teams that win their conference. As it stands now Texas A&M will need Alabama to lose two conference games in the next month for the Aggies to even have the opportunity to advance to the SEC conference championship game. Undefeated Washington of course controls their own destiny in the Pac-12 championship race. While there is only about month left of the college football regular season there is a ton of football left to be played.

Colorado is 21st in the AP poll, and 20th in the Coaches poll, the playoff committee, however, has them at 15th, quite the jump. Perhaps the Buffaloes strong showing in the Big House against number 3 Michigan helped them out. Right behind the Buffs at number 16 is Utah. The Utes are also 16th in the AP and Coaches Polls. Rounding out the top 25 is Washington State. Much like Utah, the Cougars are ranked the same in all 3 of the polls.

3-loss USC is starting to receive attention from the voters effectively being ranked 27th in the Associated Press poll and 30th in the Coaches Poll. The Trojans did not crack the committee’s first top 25 with 3 losses though despite all three of them coming in the early part of the season, 2 of them against top 16 teams, all of them on the road, and 2 of them with a different quarterback. The only team with 3 losses to make the CFP rankings is Florida State at number 22. If USC continues their winning streak they will almost certainly enter the top 25.

You can see the full rankings below:

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Told you.

The Florida Gators sit at No. 11 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings of 2016, released during an ESPN show on Tuesday.

The Gators check in behind two Big Ten teams — No. 10 Nebraska and No. 12 Penn State — and outside of a top 10 that features three other top-10 Big Ten squads, including No. 8 Wisconsin, the highest-ranked two-loss team in the rankings.

The big surprise of the rankings is No. 4 Texas A&M, which sits one spot ahead of unbeaten No. 5 Washington. But the Aggies have a road win over No. 9 Auburn, and wins over Tennessee and UCLA, while Washington’s best win — by the selection committee’s rankings, anyway — is a road win over No. 16 Utah.

This points directly to the selection committee’s propensity for favoring résumé — and specifically quality of victories — over any other factors when ranking teams, something I pointed out on Sunday, while warning that Florida could be a top-10 team in the polls — as it is — and outside the Playoff’s top 10.

But Florida could conceivably be in the top 10 on Sunday and out of it on Tuesday, when the College Football Playoff’s selection committee issues its first rankings.

That committee has demonstrated, time and again, that it does not consistently use the polls as a framework, and so Florida can’t benefit from the same propensity for inertia it does with the coaches and AP voters. Instead, the committee is likely to weigh résumés and use “the eye test” to craft its hierarchy.

…

I think Wisconsin’s very likely to be ahead of Florida in the Playoff rankings, and I would be utterly unsurprised to see two of Baylor, Nebraska, and West Virginia in front of the Gators, too. Hell, Western Michigan’s best win — at Northwestern, just like Nebraska’s — is over a team S&P+ liked better than Kentucky as of last week, and the Broncos didn’t blow a 21-0 lead in their nonexistent loss. Auburn’s only losses are to Clemson and Texas A&M, and Auburn has wins over LSU, Arkansas, and Mississippi — whose five losses are to Florida State, Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, and Auburn, all top-25 teams in my view — to its name.

Put simply: Florida’s lack of a marquee win is going to be its bête noire in these initial College Football Playoff rankings, and may keep a team that should be no lower than No. 8 or No. 9 in this week’s polls outside the top 10 in the selection committee’s eyes.

In other words: Called it.

Florida’s No. 11 ranking gives the Gators two consecutive years with at least one top-10 College Football Playoff ranking. Florida rose as high as No. 8 in the third week of 2015’s rankings.

Oklahoma Sooners Football: Sooners 14th in College Football Playoff Rankings – Crimson And Cream Machineclockmenumore-arrowcrimson and cream machineCrimson&Cream_Machine_minimalCrimson&Cream_Machine_minimalStubhub LogoCrimson&Cream_Machine_minimalCrimson&Cream_Machine_minimal

Bucky’s sitting in a solid spot.

OK, OK. Raise your hand if, before the start of the 2016 season, that the Wisconsin Badgers would be in contention or would be sniffing for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Seriously.

The College Football Playoff committee released its first set of rankings on Tuesday evening, and Wisconsin (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) was announced as No. 8 in its Top 25, ahead of Auburn and Nebraska.

The first four currently are the following programs:

• No. 1 Alabama
• No. 2 Clemson
• No. 3 Michigan
• No. 4 Texas A&M

Five Big Ten teams rank in the Top 12 of the selection committee’s list. The Wolverines are ahead of the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes, No. 8 Badgers, No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers and No. 12 Penn State Nittany Lions.

There’s still plenty of time for upsets and shake-ups. Wisconsin has to take care of business first, starting this week against a Northwestern squad in Evanston that played very well against the Buckeyes in a 24-20 loss in Columbus.

“I think they matter to a lot of people, and there’s a lot of attention with it,” head coach Paul Chryst said on Monday when asked if the playoff rankings matter at this point in the season. “I think for our team or any team, what it really matters is what you do that week and all the discussion, none of that matters, doesn’t help you play the game. You got to play your season out, and at the end of that season, you earn the right to play another game and what type of game you’re playing in depends on what you do.

“There’s a lot of interest in college football, and that’s great, but I think as far as when you’re in it and playing — our kids today need to focus on having a great Monday and then really having a great week.”

Plus Bret Bielema’s World Series Connection

It is a huge weekend in the SEC, Alabama/LSU is the big national draw but there are some pretty big implications in the Arkansas/Florida game. The Gators can put some huge distance between them and the pack in the SEC East, or a Razorback upset could swing the door wide open. More on that and every other SEC matchup here.

The Gators haven’t looked unbeatable this season, but are very stout on defense and have climbed into the top 10 about as quietly as a team can. Bret Bielema and the two coordinators shared their thoughts about Florida and what individual players have been improving with the bye week.

For the past couple of seasons the Hogs have had actual hogs on their helmets in the form of the helmet stickers. The stickers have been a growing part of college football and Bielema went into a little more detail about them. They’re not just athletic achievements but also academic, they only get added after wins, and the bigger the challenge the bigger the reward for stickers.

With the World Series going on, the games in Wrigley are the talk of the sports world and even Bielema is getting asked questions about them. Bielema shared his memory of getting to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame, during the seventh inning at Wrigley back in 2007. After some digging, video of it was even found.

Tomorrow Razorback soccer kicks off their SEC Tournament run, after being picked 12th in the conference preseason polls, Arkansas is the 3-seed, ranked 23rd in the nation, and will face Vanderbilt. The Hogs won their regular season matchup 4-0.

The University and the athletic department have kicked off a big campaign with the very important It’s On Us campaign that has been championed by Vice President Joe Biden, SB Nation and many others. It’s On Us was created to raise awareness and prevent sexual assault on college campuses and the University put together a nice video and organized events on campus to help education on the issue for anyone who can be there.